Even though Lauren and Eric just completed Vivienda Moderna a few months ago, the home has an old soul. The building is located on the corner lot of an old mansion (whose foundations were unearthed during construction), is partially clad in wood siding from disassembled Kansas barns, and incorporates other salvaged material from around the region...

That use of the old gives the building a grounding - a Framework - on which to experiment and showcase the couple's design and construction. Most of the finish work was completed themselves, and on a budget. The horizontal wood cladding on the exterior (and interior at the entry) was salvaged from barns taken apart by Lauren and Eric with the help of family and friends. The horizontal wood finish that recurs throughout the interior of the home is actually made of salvaged oak flooring gutted from area remodels. Some of it would have otherwise ended up being thrown away, but with their trusty pickup truck, this couple rescued materials from all over town and gave them new life.

Lauren and Eric's home - one portion of the multi-use Vivienda Moderna - functions as a showcase for the design work that the couple's adjacent office, Framework Design, provides. Being able to show and tell is helpful, since the house is full of innovative sustainable systems and custom details. This is one active building that's brimming with live, work, display, and invention. You might remember Eric and Lauren's Reborn Bungalow or the exterior of Vivienda Moderna as featured in this summer's My Great Outdoors.

Inspiration: Sustainable, inside/outside connections, old ideals with new modernistic appeal.

Favorite Element: The windows and feeling like we're in the trees!

Biggest Challenge: Timeline! We're sure we could have hired those much more knowledgeable and much faster at what we tried to accomplish ourseleves. Sometimes, like with drywall, we figured it was much better to pay the professionals in the end.

What Friends Say: Can you come out to play yet now that you're "done"?

Biggest Embarrassment: Lauren: Stepping through the top stair where there used to be a tread even though I knew it was missing.Eric: Lauren stepping through the top stair where there used to be a tread even though she knew it was missing.

Proudest DIY: Even though she never got to move in, knowing Lauren's grandma loved everything about her apartment.

Biggest Indulgence: We can't really think of one. Everything has been so useful!